Some HTS forces that entered northern Aleppo province during recent infighting between Turkish-backed opposition factions withdrew to Idlib this week, but concerns about the hardline faction’s sustained influence remain.
This week, the Syrian National Army’s Hamza Division was implicated in the assassination of a prominent opposition activist and his pregnant wife, sparking ongoing clashes, protests and calls for the faction to be eliminated.
Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham is moving to open a crossing in eastern Idlib province with regime-held territory that would financially benefit both itself and Damascus.
For residents of northwestern Syria, juggling multiple identification documents for different authorities administering the country’s last opposition-held territories is a headache, and a fact of life.
In Idlib, a province often mentioned in the same breath as humanitarian crises and bombings, an urban and commercial revival is underway in some cities and towns as local businesspeople invest in large trade and residential complexes.
Amid a historic drought, dozens of new wells are being drilled across northwest Syria to meet a rising demand for water. But the overpumped water table is dropping, while farmers struggle with skyrocketing costs and decreasing water quality.
As US-led coalition forces target Islamic State and al-Qaeda figures in densely-populated Idlib province, civilians find themselves in the crosshairs, facing death, injury, and property damage.
In opposition-held Idlib, thousands of teachers have been working without pay due to lost funding, some for as long as two years. Now at their breaking point, they are on strike.
Humanitarian concerns play a key role in the evolution of Western policy towards HTS. But could greater engagement with HTS actually improve the humanitarian space in Idlib?
Women’s presence and role over the past decade reflect the course of the revolution: the militarization, emergence of separated areas controlled by different international, regional and local actors, as well as the rise of extremist groups such as ISIS and HTS.
